


Turning Tables

by fembuck



Series: The Nun's Nest [8]
Category: Warrior Nun (TV)
Genre: F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25806850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fembuck/pseuds/fembuck
Summary: The Sisters agree on a new plan; Mary and Lilith have a talk.
Relationships: Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva
Series: The Nun's Nest [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824703
Comments: 12
Kudos: 358





	Turning Tables

**Author's Note:**

> There was some weirdness happening with the way the parts of the series were being numbered that made it look like a part was missing. 
> 
> I've managed to fix up the numbering so that it's displaying properly now. 
> 
> I just wanted to confirm that no parts/chapters of the series were previously missing, it was just wonky numbering.

***

The Sisters sat strategically in the back corner of the hotel’s dining area, the positioning offering them a good view of the room and its entrances and exits, as well as providing them with space, and thus privacy, from the other earlier risers among the hotel’s guests. 

“... and that,” Ava declared, “more or less, is the outline for ‘Operation Drop Kick Adriel into Another Dimension Where He Can Eat A Bag of Dicks,’ or Plan C as Beatrice calls it,” she finished, leaning back in her chair.

“Okay,” Camila breathed out, sharing a quick, dubious look with Mary and Lilith. “So, our new plan to defeat Adriel is … through unleashing the power of your … carnal knowledge of each other?”

“Exactly,” Ava confirmed, smiling. 

And to think that Beatrice had been worried when she’d volunteered to explain Plan C to the Sisters so that Beatrice could intake some calories. 

_Crushed it!_ Ava thought as Beatrice looked up from her breakfast, alarmed. 

That wasn’t quite ...

“Beatrice?” 

Beatrice turned to face Mary. 

“We’re going to need the _more_ version.”

“Right,” Beatrice breathed out, leaning back in her seat before taking a sip of water. 

“I just explained it,” Ava complained, expression wounded as she looked around the table at Mary, Lilith and Camila.

Camila reached out for her hand, and held it for a moment before gently saying, “We need the more version.”

Ava sighed despondently, and then rose to her feet and declared, “I’m getting food,” before heading towards the buffet, trying to take comfort in the fact that at least she had aced girlfriending by occupying the others for long enough for Beatrice to have breakfast. 

“The long version of Plan C begins with the fact that,” Beatrice began, her eyes still following Ava as she made a beeline for the pastry table, “prior to Jillian’s creation of the arc, the only documented evidence we have of portals being opened are accounts of ‘door opening to permit demons’. 

“However, the memories Adriel shared with Ava call much of what we thought we knew about the history of the halo into question. What we can say with reasonable certainty is that what we refer to as a ‘halo’ could also be called a key.

“Adriel was able to use this key to open a door to our world. This confirms what could only be speculation before. The halo does have the ability to open portals in and of itself. We can deduce from Adriel’s memories that he needs to be in physical contact with the halo in order to use it, and from his actions in the tomb that he cannot remove it from Ava without physical contact as well. So, as long as the halo remains safely within Ava, Adriel will not be able to use it to escape to wherever transdimensional rats run.”

Beatrice paused for a moment, taking a drink of water and then continued. 

“From his memories, it seems like the halo was designed to operate as a hand-held device. The fact that no warrior nun has been able to use the halo as a key could lead one to believe that doing so may not even be possible when the halo is contained within someone. 

“Vincent knows that no warrior nun has ever opened a portal, and he knows that even with Salvius hooking Ava up to the cutting edge technology of the arc, that a halo bearer still hasn’t successfully opened a stable portal....”

“So, it’s a method of attack that he won’t be expecting, which could give us an advantage,” Camila interjected, nodding her understanding. 

“Can Ava actually open a portal?” Lilith inquired.

“Finding out the answer to that question is why we need to change course and head back to Spain,” Beatrice replied. “The problem the first time an attempt was made to power the arc with the halo, was that the halo was drained of energy too quickly. I think that with the amount of energy Ava is now able to store, that she can in fact open a portal working. But, the only way to confirm that theory …”

“Is to test it,” Camila finished for her. “How do we test it?”

“We go to ArqTech,” Beatrice replied, resignedly. “Where we can use the arc gate to see if the power the halo has banked now is enough to power a portal. If it is, then it should be possible for Ava to open a portal without the arc gate.”

“I like the last part,” Camila murmured, “But-”

“The first half is lacking,” Lilith interrupted. “Walking into a lion’s den seems an odd way to avoid being killed by a lion, Bea,” she continued as Ava rejoined them at the table, the halo bearer’s disposition much impressed by the plate of food she was carrying. “Vincent may be a lying, traitorous, murderous, dumpster fire, but he’s not an idiot. They’ll be watching Salvius and ArqTech.”

“Which is unfortunate for them since we have spent years learning how to be shadows,” Beatrice replied. “Identifying the method by which Ava was able to access the field the halo is drawing power from…”

“Horniness,” Lilith supplied.

“Love,” Ava immediately retorted, narrowing her eyes at Lilith.

“Horny love,” Lilith shot back, and Ava glared at her for a moment before taking an irritated bite out of a croissant.

It may have been true, but Lilith didn’t have to say it.

“Moving on,” Beatrice continued uncomfortably, unconsciously straightening in her chair primly. “Figuring out how to harness enough power was the problem in the past. A problem that has now, hopefully, been eliminated. We should only need to be on the ArqTech campus for an hour, maybe less.”

“Okay, fine. We open the portal and then what?” Mary asked, lifting a combative eyebrow at Beatrice. “We give him exactly what he wants and let him walk through the wardrobe into Narnia?”

“I was thinking more of, like, drop kicking him through,” Ava noted, “Hence ‘Operation Drop Kick Adriel…’” Ava trailed off as Mary’s eyes narrowed at her. “Yeah, yeah that’s the gist.”

“Sounds like a reward,” Mary muttered.

“It won’t be,” Lilith replied, her tone dark and her expression distant. “He may have learned how to use the halo, but it was never his. He is a thief. The halo was the only thing protecting him from being captured. If he’s sent to the other side without it, he will be the proverbial lamb left to the slaughter.”

“Michael,” Camila gasped upon hearing Lilith’s dire words. The boy had…

“Michael is not a thief,” Lilith replied, consciously gentling her tone. “Nor is he a murderer, or a liar. There is no reason for them to interfere with him.”

“You’re not just saying that to make us feel better are you?” Ava asked, still looking a little uneasy at the thought of Michael wherever “over there” was.

“No,” Lilith replied, looking over at Ava. “I believe it to be the truth,” she continued, unaware of Mary’s studious contemplation of her, Lilith’s words over the past few minutes raising many questions within her that she knew she’d have to ask later.

“Mother wasn’t sure we could trust Jillian in her last communique,” Camila was saying as Mary turned her full attention back to the conversation at hand.

“True,” Ava said, “But that was when Adriel had a better chance of finding Michael for her than we did. Things are different now. I mean, if you were her, who would you rather trust? Us, or a creepy space wizard that’s been whispering to your son in his dreams?”

“Point taken,” Camila murmured. “So, we’re going home?”

“The Cat’s Cradle won’t be safe for us yet,” Mary said sighed, understanding Camila’s desire to get back to the place that had become their home. “But I know somewhere we could lay low until we’re able to make contact with Superion and figure out what resources we’ll have access to.”

“A sound course of action,” Beatrice noted, nodding approvingly.

“So, Spain?” Mary asked, looking around the table for any dissent and finding none. “We should hit the road then.”

“My pastries,” Ava protested, the words coming out garbled around a mouthful of danish as she gazed longingly at the fluffy, flaky mountain of baked wonders she had curated from the buffet.

“Ta da!” Camila proclaimed smiling, presenting Ava with a ziplock after a few moments of digging around in her duffel bag.

Ava reached across the table and squeezed Camila’s hand. “You’re a good woman, Camila. I acknowledge this, and appreciate it.”

Lilith groaned and pushed back her chair, rising to her feet, followed a few seconds later by Mary, while Ava turned her attention to scooping her little cream filled, icing-sugar frosted treasures into the ziplock bag and then sealing it carefully while Beatrice and Camila also rose from their seats.

Ava then quickly shoved the other half of the danish into her mouth and stood, grabbing her bag and hurrying to catch up with the others as she chewed.

***

When they asked Mary how she managed to secure them a small farmhouse, all she would say was, “Shannon helped them out a while back,” and “They were happy to help,” which, in her defense, was enough for all of them to understand why the owners of the farmhouse were willing to lend it to them indefinitely even though it was a popular choice of lodging for tourists.

Once they were back and settled in Spain, it was much easier to stay in regular contact with Mother Superion, which gave them access to their previous electronic data as well as many of the churches archives through her, as well as allowing for more updates on what the church was up to.

Days passed at the farmhouse, training Ava, surveilling ArqTech, prayers, group training, planning their second infiltration of ArqTech, bed, wake up, do it all again. Boring? Perhaps. But the routine was good for them after so long on the road. Having a clear objective they were working towards was good for them. And Ava’s martial skills were notably improving now that she was training on a regular schedule. Consciously accessing her powers when Beatrice’s life was not in danger however, was still a work in progress.

While Beatrice trained, and Ava and Camila were occupied watching a horror movie on a laptop, Lilith journeyed outside of the farmhouse in search of Mary, and when she found her, joined her on a stretch of grass that surrounded a garden in the back of the residence.

“Are you going to sulk out here all night?” Lilith asked, arms crossed as she looked down at Mary.

“What do you care?” Mary asked pissily, just managing to hold back the ‘ _where I sulk_ ’ that had been on the tip of her tongue.

“Why wouldn’t I care?” Lilith asked, more gently than Mary was expecting given the tone she had just used with Lilith.

Lilith lowered herself down to the ground beside Mary, and took up a similar position.

“So?” Lilith questioned.

“So what?” Mary asked peevishly, even though she didn’t really want to be peevish with Lilith. She was just, not in a sociable mood, which was why she had gone outside to find some privacy. “Why’d you come out here?”

“Because …” Lilith began slowly, her brows creasing in thought. “You had me … now I’ve got you. It’s what Sisters do,” she continued, glancing down at Mary’s hand and contemplating covering it with her own, before deciding against it.

“What have you ‘got me’ against?” Mary asked, speaking more considerately than she had before, acknowledging that she knew Lilith hadn’t come out there specifically bother her. 

“Self-doubt and jumping to conclusions,” Lilith replied. “I know from personal experience that both things are actually the worst,” she continued, having had time throughout the day to consider Mary’s worsening mood and what the catalyst for it might have been. 

“Lil,” Mary sighed. “I get that you came out here to try and help me or whatever. But I came out here for some peace. So either get to the point or … leave me to the stars,” she finished softly.

“Fine then,” Lilith replied, “The Celine Dion shit,” she continued. “It’s bothering you.”

Mary huffed.

“They’re just in the honeymoon phase. Every couple is annoying in the honeymoon phase,” she responded blandly, keeping her eyes focused upon the stars.

“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Lilith sighed, though she did agree with the sentiment. “I meant Ava accessing this field or whatever,” she continued, noticing Mary’s body become increasingly tense as she spoke. “You’ve jumped to conclusions about why, and it’s making you miserable.”

Mary’s head turned sharply towards Lilith, and she stared at the other woman, long and hard for a moment before deflating slightly and turning away again.

“Shannon loved you,” Lilith stated firmly. The words caused a familiar ache in her heart, but she pushed forward despite it because … Mary. “It was so clear in … everything. The way she looked to you first, always, no matter the situation. The way your hand finding hers always helped clear and calm her mind. The way she would say your name with almost blasphemous reverence…”

  
“Lilith,” Mary cut in, voice choked. “Why are you doing this?” she asked, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears building in them. “I don’t …”

“You do,” Lilith insisted. “Because you’re being stupid, and I won’t allow it.”

“That right?” Mary asked.

“It is,” Lilith replied confidently.

“How am I being a stupid?” 

“By doubting what you know to be true.”

“Which is?”

“I already said,” Lilith replied, looking over at Mary again and then pausing until Mary looked at her. “Shannon loved you. Do not lose your faith in that. As for Ava’s new softly lit bullshit, there could be any number of insane reasons for it.”

Mary looked away, and it was all the confirmation Lilith needed to know that she was on the right track. 

“Like what?” Mary inquired softly.

“Ava’s unusual,” Lilith began, acknowledging that that was about as polite a word as she was going to find. “Who knows what effect being immobile for so long might have had on her. If blindness can lead to other senses being heightened, then maybe not being able to move can increase the range of one's consciousness. Or you know, there’s the fact that she’s ‘technically dead’. Who knows what kind of effect that could have?”

Mary’s head turned back in her direction and Lilith was pleased, knowing that she had now truly had Mary’s attention.

“Maybe Ava can access this other field, whatever it’s called, because some sort of connection was already formed between her and the other side when she was dead. Like a quantum string linking her to something that other warrior nuns couldn’t perceive.”

Lilith paused for a moment as Mary shook her head for a moment.

“Sometimes I forget she was…”

“A corpse-ical,” Lilith offered, shrugging her shoulders when Mary shook her head at her even though she was smiling.

“Yeah … that,” Mary confirmed, turning to face Lilith. “What else you got?” she asked, her voice lighter than it had been since Lilith had joined her.

“Maybe it’s her life experiences. She was stuck in one place for so long that now she’s hungry to explore anything and everything, often without much … foresight,” Lilith continued, thinking back on basically everything Ava had done up until she had … disappeared, trying to protect Ava from the tarask. “Perhaps she’s just grabbing at whatever she can feel in the ether, pulling on it in an enthusiastically reckless way that is pure Ava.

“I mean, knowing her recent luck, maybe her lack of training has somehow been an advantage,” Lilith went on, this particular scenario hitting uncomfortably close to home. “Sister after Sister after Sister has been taught the same lessons, heard the same stories, trained in the same regimented style that has sculpted them into the Sister Warriors and Warrior Nun’s the church required, and for those who refused to conform or adapt … rejection.

“Maybe Ava coming in, ignorant as His universe is large, was actually helpful, because it … freed her,” Lilith sighed wistfully, “of expectations and preconceptions that can limit the mind … and heart, and therefore the halo.

“The point is, ‘maybe maybe maybe’,” Lilith continued, finally giving into her previous desire and reaching out for Mary’s hand, covering it with her own. “None of us know shit. Don’t let it make you doubt yourself, or Shannon, or … anything else. Trust your heart, not your fear. It’s a good one, your heart. I’ve never seen it lead you astray,” Lilith concluded, stroking the back of Mary’s hand with her thumb before drawing her hand away.

“Careful Lilith,” Mary breathed out, lifting her head up briefly to meet Lilith eyes before averting her gaze again, though not quickly enough for Lilith to miss the way her eyes were shining with barely contained tears. “Your heart is showing again. If you keep this up, I’m gonna come to expect it.”

“Good,” Lilith murmured, smiling softly.

“Hey,” Mary breathed, drawing Lilith’s gaze towards her. “Thank you,” she continued earnestly. “I … needed to hear that,” Mary admitted.

“Like I said, ‘I’ve got you’,” Lilith replied warmly. “In this life...” she continued, smiling.

“And the next,” Mary breathed out, smiling back at her.

The End

Series continues in Part 9!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for your continued encouragement and comments. It means so much to me, and you taking the time to write something is deeply, deeply appreciated!
> 
> Thank you for continuing on this wild, and far more expansive journey in the world of Warrior Nun and Avatrice with me. I love them all so much, my brain keeps finding ways to expand the plot and keep us with them for a while longer.
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed this latest chapter! Thank you so much for reading. And, as always, comments are welcome, and greatly appreciated.


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